With the Parliament Monsoon Session commencing on July 20, the Congress on Thursday asserted that the opposition unity will be on display and would once again be able to stall the Delimitation Bill if the government were to bring it back, as well as the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks the automatic dismissal of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and Ministers if they are arrested and detained for 30 consecutive days.
Besides that the Congress will also raise the issues of Ram Temple donation embezzlement, ethanol-blended fuels, and question paper leaks, among other issues, in Parliament during the monsoon session, party’s general secretary and communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh said.
The decision was announced after the meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party strategy group here at the residence of CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, which was attended by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, party MPs P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, KC Venugopal, Manickam Tagore, Tariq Anwar, Mohammad Jawed, K Suresh, Kumari Selja, Shashi Tharoor, Pramod Tiwari and Gaurav Gogoi.
Addressing the media, Ramesh said that the party had reviewed the bills likely to be introduced during the session, though it was still awaiting the government’s official legislative agenda.
“We have heard that the Home Minister is trying to reintroduce the Delimitation Bill, which failed to get a two-thirds majority for the government on April 17, marking a significant defeat. They want to bring that bill back,” he said.
Reiterating the party’s stand, Ramesh said, “Congress’s stand has always been clear: we will strongly oppose the Delimitation Bill and continue to do so. We will make every effort to maintain unity among all opposition parties.”
He also alleged that the government was attempting to secure the required numbers by engineering splits in opposition parties.
“It is true that since April 17, the home minister has engineered splits in one or two opposition parties. This is an insult to the Constitution. They are cunningly trying to secure a two-thirds majority.
He also asserted that obtaining a two-thirds majority through such cunning tactics and by breaking up other parties is an insult to the Constitution and it would be called a tainted majority if the government manages to get itn passed in both houses of the Parliament.
“Although there is no possibility of them securing a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha,” the Congress leader said.
He also reiterated its support for women’s reservation while opposing any attempt to link it with delimitation.
Ramesh, who is also a Rajya Sabha member demanded that introduce a provision for women’s reservation, and we will extend our full support.
“However, the delimitation bill that was tabled while labelled as a women’s reservation act was actually a dangerous delimitation bill introduced under the guise of women’s reservation,” he alleged.
He said that the party would also oppose the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) and changes to the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.
“We will oppose the ‘Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill’… There is also a possibility of the FCRA Bill coming up; we will oppose that as well… We are not in favour of amendments to the National Food Security Act and will strongly oppose them,” he added.
He also said that the party will also seek debates on India’s relations with China and the United States and the evolving situation in West Asia in last few months.
Ramesh also said that Congress President and Leader of Opposition are also holding discussions with the parties like AAP and DMK and we are hopeful that all these parties would support unitedly on the delimitation and others.
Meanwhile, Kharge also shared a post on X and said, “Chanda Chori – Astha se Dhoka, Paper leaks and the systemic corrosion of education system, institutional capture, breaking of political parties, multiple scams and charges of corruption, backbreaking price rise, foreign policy failures and strategic blunders, the imposition of ethanol blending on 3.5 crore vehicle owners, unbridled deforestation, and the continued assault on the rights of SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities are among the critical issues on which the Congress Party will hold the Modi Govt accountable during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.”
